You’d think that in this day and age, when people aren’t reading all that much, banning books wouldn’t be all that high up on the to-do lists of the powers that be. But, sadly, it’s still an issue, even in 2013: just look at the recent — eventually overturned –– banning of Ralph Ellison’s classic Invisible Man. Why would you want to ban a National Book Award-winning classic that not only documents the African-American experience in the middle of the 20th century, but also remains essential reading to this day… unless you were afraid of what’s contained within the book’s pages?
That’s why Banned Book Week is so important: it highlights those books that people in our supposedly free society believe (or once believed) should be hidden from readers, especially the younger ones. So to celebrate this vital literary occasion, Tumblr user Jubilant Antics! — who also answers to the first name Kate — posted this wonderful series of illustrated mugshots depicting characters from some of the most famous banned books in history.
Image credit: Jubilant Antics!
Harry Potter
Image credit: Jubilant Antics!
Alaska Young, Looking for Alaska
Image credit: Jubilant Antics!
Holden Caulfield, The Catcher in the Rye
Image credit: Jubilant Antics!
Janie Crawford, Their Eyes Were Watching God
Image credit: Jubilant Antics!
Hester Prynne, The Scarlett Letter